Home Appraisal Cost and Appraisal Gap Statistics: 2026 Report

A purchase offer that clears inspection can still stall when the lender's appraisal comes in late or below the contract price. Buyers ask what a home appraisal costs because the fee shows up on the Loan Estimate, and because a low value can force more cash, a renegotiated price, or a canceled deal. The dollar amount depends on property type, market, loan program, and whether the order is a full interior inspection or an alternate valuation. One national average hides the gap between a conventional closing-cost sample and a published government fee schedule, and it says nothing about how often appraisals miss the contract price.

We compiled these figures from six primary sources covering roughly 2013 through mid-2026 publications as of October 2026: Fannie Mae's December 2021 Barriers to Entry closing-cost study; the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) appraisal fee schedule effective May 1, 2026; Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) Aggregate Statistics for Enterprise single-family purchase appraisals (national file through 2024 Q3); FHFA research blogs that document underappraisal rates; and the Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) 2025 Annual Report. Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) public loan files do not include a separate appraisal-fee field, so HMDA was not used for cost. A Fannie Mae analysis of 2020 purchase mortgages put the median appraisal charge at $475. Statewide VA single-family fees on the May 1, 2026 schedule run $650 to $1,100. In FHFA's UAD series, 8.6% of Enterprise single-family purchase appraisals came in below contract in 2023, after 15.2% in 2021 and 12.2% in 2022. ASC counted 89,618 appraiser credentials on the National Registry at year-end 2025.

Average Home Appraisal Cost: Single-Family Fees, 2020 to 2026

This table answers the main question: what a single-family home appraisal costs as a median or published fee range, with the period and scope stated for each row.

Sources: Fannie Mae, Barriers to Entry: Closing Costs for First-Time and Low-Income Homebuyers, December 2021 (median appraisal charge $475 from a 10% random sample of the main 2020 purchase-mortgage analysis dataset); VA Timeliness Requirements and Fee Schedule, effective May 1, 2026. VA rows are the published VA appraisal fee schedule for VA-related assignments, not a survey of conventional or FHA customary fees. The $700 median is the median of the 53 statewide single-family fees on that schedule (not a transaction-weighted market average). Consumer quote-site averages were not used after terms review.

Appraisal fees are usually paid by the borrower and appear among third-party charges on mortgage disclosures. Lenders may order through an appraisal management company (AMC), which can add coordination cost on top of the appraiser's fee. Loan program matters: VA assignments follow the VA schedule; Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and portfolio lenders use other fee practices. Some refinance and low-risk purchase loans may qualify for Fannie Mae Value Acceptance (formerly called an appraisal waiver) or similar alternatives, which can remove the traditional appraisal fee when the investor accepts an alternate valuation path. Broader borrower-paid closing-cost medians that fold appraisal into other fees are covered in average mortgage closing costs by state; those Home Mortgage Disclosure Act totals are not appraisal fees and are not treated as such here.

VA Single-Family Appraisal Fees by State: May 1, 2026 Schedule

VA publishes maximum appraisal fees by state and, in some states, by county. The table below uses each jurisdiction's statewide single-family fee from the schedule effective May 1, 2026. County premiums in high-cost or remote areas can run higher than the statewide line.

Source: VA Timeliness Requirements and Fee Schedule, effective May 1, 2026. Statewide single-family column; county overrides and manufactured-home or multi-unit fees on the same PDF are not shown. These are VA schedule fees for VA appraisals, not conventional market quotes.

The lowest statewide single-family lines on this schedule are $650 (Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Puerto Rico). The highest statewide line is $1,100 (Alaska), followed by $950 in Hawaii and North Dakota. Title insurance and other closing charges are separate products; for premium levels see title insurance cost.

Source: same VA fee schedule effective May 1, 2026. Chart uses five lowest and five highest statewide single-family fees from the full table.

Appraisal Gap: Share of Appraisals Below Contract Price, 2013 to 2024

An appraisal gap, or underappraisal, is an appraised value below the buyer's contract price. FHFA's UAD Aggregate Statistics report the share of Enterprise single-family purchase appraisals in that position, plus shares equal to and above contract. Annual national rates for all appraisals (no property-characteristic filter) are below.

Source: FHFA Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) Aggregate Statistics, Enterprise single-family national file (UADAggs_ent_sf_nat_v3_3); series "% of Appraisals Below / Equal to / Above Contract Price," Purpose = Purchase, Characteristic = No Characteristic / All Appraisals. Annual rows use the file's year-total quarter code (quarter 5), which matches FHFA's published 2021 national breakdown of 15.2% below, 26.7% equal, and 58.1% above. Purchase appraisals only.

From 2013 through 2020, the annual below-contract share stayed between 6.5% and 9.4%. It rose to 15.2% in 2021 and 12.2% in 2022 during rapid house-price growth, then returned to 8.6% in 2023. FHFA's January 2024 underappraisal research note describes the same spike-and-return pattern. In most years, a majority of appraisals still came in above contract.

Source: same FHFA UAD Aggregate Statistics series as the three-way table above.

Appraisal Gap in 2024: Quarterly Below-Contract Rates

The national UAD file available for this report includes 2024 through the third quarter, without a 2024 annual total yet. Quarterly below-contract rates in 2024 sat near the pre-spike band.

Source: FHFA UAD Aggregate Statistics, Enterprise single-family national file; same below/equal/above series, Purchase, All Appraisals. No 2024 annual (quarter 5) row in this file release.

A low appraisal does not automatically kill a sale. Parties may renegotiate price, increase down payment, dispute the appraisal, or switch loan products. Neighborhood and tract demographics can also show different underappraisal rates; FHFA's UAD bias research blog reports higher below-contract shares in high-minority tracts than in majority-White tracts for 2021. Those tract-level gaps are outside the national cost tables above. Statewide packages that mix appraisal with taxes and recording fees appear in average closing costs by state.

Appraiser Credentials on the ASC National Registry, 2021 to 2025

Appraisal supply affects turn times and, in tight markets, fee pressure. The ASC maintains the National Registry of State certified and licensed appraisers. Counts are credentials, not unique people, because some appraisers hold credentials in more than one state.

Source: ASC 2025 Annual Report, Appendix C, Year-End Appraiser Credentials (as of December 31 each year). Totals are credentials on the Appraiser Registry, not distinct appraisers. Year-end figures from Appendix C as published.

Total credentials fell from 91,036 at year-end 2024 to 89,618 at year-end 2025. Certified Residential credentials declined over the same window, while Certified General rose slightly in 2025. Registry use is free for verifying whether an appraiser's credential is active.

What the Appraisal Cost and Gap Data Show

Appraisal cost and appraisal gap answer different questions: one is the fee on the disclosure, the other is whether the value supports the contract. Watch the next FHFA UAD annual release for a full-year 2024 below-contract rate, and any VA fee-schedule update after May 1, 2026, for state fee changes.

Sources

1. Fannie Mae, Barriers to Entry: Closing Costs for First-Time and Low-Income Homebuyers, December 2021, https://www.fanniemae.com/media/42286/display
2. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Timeliness Requirements and Fee Schedule (appraisal fees), effective May 1, 2026, https://www.benefits.va.gov/HOMELOANS/documents/docs/Fee_Schedule.pdf
3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) Aggregate Statistics (Enterprise single-family national file UADAggs_ent_sf_nat_v3_3), https://www.fhfa.gov/data/uad
4. Federal Housing Finance Agency, "Underutilization of Appraisal Time Adjustments," January 8, 2024, https://www.fhfa.gov/blog/insights/underutilization-of-appraisal-time-adjustments
5. Federal Housing Finance Agency, "Exploring Appraisal Bias Using UAD Aggregate Statistics," https://www.fhfa.gov/blog/insights/exploring-appraisal-bias-using-uad-aggregate-statistics
6. Appraisal Subcommittee of the FFIEC, 2025 Annual Report (transmittal June 15, 2026), https://www.asc.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/2026.06.15%20ASC%202025%20Annual%20Report.pdf

Figures are shown as published by the sources named under each table. How we source and correct: editorial and corrections policy. Spotted an error? Contact us.

Release dates for these sources: Data release calendar.